TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) All-Conference Baseball teams and annual award winners, determined through voting by the league's 11 head coaches, were announced Wednesday night. The award winner and teams were first revealed during an announcement show through the PAC Sports Network.

Washington & Jefferson College, the 2024 PAC Champions, secured two of the four major conference awards. The PAC Player of the Year honor went to W&J junior shortstop Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius). Additionally for the Presidents' program, W&J head coach Jeff Mountain, now in his 22nd season, was chosen as the PAC Coach of the Year. 

The other two major awards went to members of the Grove City College baseball program following their runner-up finish in the league tournament. Senior Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) was chosen as the PAC Pitcher of the Year, while the conference's Newcomer of the Year honor went to Wolverine freshman utility Sam Bevin (Louisville, Ky./Wake County).

LaDuca is now a three-time All-PAC pick, including consecutive First Team awards. He batted .368 while leading the circuit with 56 runs scored and ranking second with 64 hits. LaDuca slugged four home runs, 11 doubles, two triples, drove in 31 to rank third on the team and  stole 21 bases, which ranked fourth in the conference. His fielding was also top-notch again, as LaDuca committed just seven errors in 221 total chances for a .968 fielding percentage, just under the .973 he posted last year when the shortstop was a member of the ABCA/Rawlings Division III Gold Glove Team.

When the Presidents took the field against PAC foes, LaDuca's raised his game to another level. He batted .438 (35-80) during the regular season against conference teams. Then in the PAC Tournament, his tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning provided the winning margin in a 4-2 win over Grove City in the title game. Including his clutch homer, LaDuca finished the Tournament 7-for-16 (.438) with two home runs, five RBIs and nine runs scored, as he earned Most Outstanding Player in the Tournament for the second year in a row.

Guidas's top pitcher award is the second time in the last three years a Wolverine has been recognized (Tate Ostrowski in 2022). The senior left-hander racked up impressive numbers to help Grove City to a 27-14 record this season. Guidas logged a conference-high 81.1 innings on the mound with 96 strikeouts and a 2.10 ERA, also league-bests, while finishing with a 6-4 record. His numbers were sparkling in the regular season against PAc foes, as he was 4-0 with a 1.49 ERA, 42 Ks and a .174 batting average against in 36.1 league innings.

Similar to LaDuca, Guidas raised his game in the PAC Tournament as well and was recognized with All-Tournament Team honors. In the opening game against Westminster, he threw eight scoreless frames and allowed just three hits and two walks with eight punchouts in a 4-0 Wolverine victory. Guidas also got the ball in the title game against W&J and threw eight innings again, giving up just four runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts and zero walks in the tough-luck loss. 

Bevin's top Newcomer award now marks three consecutive such honors for the Grove City program. The first-year utility player had a strong showing on the hill and at the plate. As a pitcher, he tied for tops in the league with seven wins, while ranking fourth in batting average against (.227) and fifth in innings pitched (74.1) and strikeouts (59).  

At the plate, Bevin batted .361 with three home runs, 12 doubles, four triples and 25 RBIs. His four triples tied for second in the conference and he also ranked fourth in runs scored (48), fifth in walks (25), eighth in OPS (1.018), ninth in slugging percentage (.558) and 10th in stolen bases (11) and doubles. He also earned All-Tournament Team last week after batting .545 (12-22) with eight runs scored and four RBI in Grove City's five games.

This Coach of the Year award is the 12th in Mountain's tenure, which was earned after leading W&J to the No. 1 seed in this year's PAC Tournament and the program's fifth consecutive league title in the 13th straight year W&J advanced to the tournament's title round. The conference championship is the 16th in Presidents' history, with 12 of those coming since Mountain took the reins to the program.

Also announced Wednesday were the members of this year's PAC Sportsmanship Team. The PAC's Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to both recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all conference teams.

As the PAC Championship Tournament winner, W&J (32-12) clinched the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. W&J is making its 11th appearance in the Division III tournament and will open regional play Friday against host Cortland (30-12-1) in Cortland, N.Y. The top seed in the Regional is Salve Regina (33-8), while Cortland is No. 2, W&J is third and Colby (29-10) is the four seed. 

PAC Award Winners
Player of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College junior shortstop Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius)
Pitcher of the Year: Grove City College senior left-hander Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland)
Newcomer of the Year: Grove City College freshman utility Sam Bevin (Louisville, Ky./Wake County)
Coach of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College head coach Jeff Mountain
 

All-PAC First Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Zack Sackett	Jr.	Geneva	Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
1B	Nolan Lutz	Sr.	W&J	McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
2B	Angelo DeLeonardis	So.	Chatham	Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch
SS	Jacob LaDuca	Jr.	W&J	Clarence, N.Y./Canisius
3B	Brady Nolin	Jr.	Allegheny	Cumberland, Maine/Greely
OF	Tyson Bryant-Dawson	Jr.	Allegheny	Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)
OF	Matt Jennings	Jr.	Allegheny	Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice
OF	Josh Minnich	Jr.	Grove City	Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley
OF	Scout Zaas	Jr.	W&J	Powell, Ohio/Wellington School
DH	Nick Jacobs	Sr.	Thiel	New Castle, Pa./Union
DH	Drew Garth	Jr.	W&J	Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills
UTIL	Sam Bevin	Fr.	Grove City	Louisville, Ky./Wake County
P	Brent Herrmann	Sr.	Allegheny	Canfield, Ohio/Canfield
P	Nick Guidas	Sr.	Grove City	Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland
P	Anthony Pass	So.	W&J	Clinton, Pa./West Allegheny

 

All-PAC Second Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Nathan Prunty	Jr.	Thiel	Elyria, Ohio/Keystone
C	Seth Burgdolt	Jr.	Waynesburg	Taylorstown, Pa./McGuffey
1B	Kirk Bearjar	So.	Geneva	Summerhill, Pa./Forest Hills
1B	Markus Williams	Sr.	Grove City	Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian
SS	JD Robinson	Jr.	Allegheny	Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove
SS	Benny Dottle	Sr.	Chatham	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
SS	Luke Vittone	Jr.	Grove City	Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian
OF	Peter Tadic	So.	Chatham	Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic
OF	Tim Hermansen	Sr.	Geneva	Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor
OF	Dylan Schmude	So.	Saint Vincent	Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
UTIL	Billy Perroz	Sr.	Saint Vincent	Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area
P	Caleb Graft	Jr.	Geneva	East Liverpool, Ohio/Heartland Christian
P	Evan Umland	Jr.	Grove City	Pasadena, Calif./La Canada
P	Dalton Lucey	So.	Waynesburg	Waynesburg, Pa./West Greene
P	Kolton Banfi	Sr.	Westminster	Harrisville, Pa./Franklin

 

Honorable Mention All-PAC
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
1B	Josh Speaker	Sr.	Bethany	Steubenville, Ohio/Indian Creek
1B	Ethan Bintrim	Jr.	Thiel	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
SS	Mike Sitting	Sr.	Thiel	Monaca, Pa./Central Valley
3B	Wade Stoehr	Jr.	Franciscan	Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central
3B	Mike Bell	Sr.	Waynesburg	Herminie, Pa./Yough
OF	Nick Roell	Sr.	Bethany	Pittsburgh, Pa /Seton LaSalle
OF	Caison Holland	Fr.	Grove City	Freedom, Pa./Ambridge
OF	Lane Ours	Sr.	Waynesburg	Moorefield, W.Va./Moorefield
OF	Matthew Randza	Sr.	Westminster	Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk
UTIL	Alec Englemore	Jr.	Waynesburg	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler
P	Mark Schweickert	Jr.	Allegheny	Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker
P	Dawson Thomas	Fr.	Allegheny	Conneaut, Pa./Conneaut Area
P	Trey Mantle	Sr.	Bethany	Groveport, Ohio/Groveport Madison
P	Carter Beneigh	Jr.	Chatham	Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley
P	Alex Polito	Jr.	Saint Vincent	Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Country Day School
P	Alec Katon	Sr.	Thiel	Ashtabula, Ohio/Edgewood
P	Dante DiMatteo	Jr.	W&J	Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel
P	Jake Vitale	Jr.	Westminster	New Castle, Pa./Union